A City-Funded AR & VR Lab Has Opened In New York City

As reported by Adweek, the city of New York has opened an AR & VR lab – known as RLab – in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The lab is being described as a “16,000-square-foot center that will house AR and VR startups while also providing research, education and training for New Yorkers working with the emerging technologies.” This project marks the first city-funded facility for augmented & virtual reality to be opened in the United States. New York City Economic Development Corp. VP Karen Bhatia commented on the lab’s opening, stating “we saw an opportunity here if we created a physical space, a lab, where they could all come together and be housed under the same roof but simultaneously have a space where they could experiment. It could catalyze further development of VR and AR technologies here in New York City.”

As experiential marketers, we are always exploring innovative ways in which we can incorporate AR and VR experiences into our events. Sure, there have been reports that these technologies (specifically virtual reality) could be losing steam, but that would never stop us from pursuing creative opportunities in that space. It is exciting and encouraging to see NYC promoting AR/VR progress by providing a venue where pioneers in these technologies can play, learn, and experiment. We hope this starts a trend, as we’d love to see more of these labs popping up all over the U.S. (cough…Los Angeles, California…cough…)